Channels, Spring 2017

Page 28 Longnecker • The Partimento Tradition Rameau’s Theory of the Fundamental Bass In the early seventeenth century, to the northwest of Naples, a different pedagogical process with a new, more flexible philosophical background arose. In France, Jean-Philippe Rameau formulated a new system of theory centered upon chordal harmony, bringing Enlightenment ideals and influences into the world of music theory and pedagogy. Rameau’s main theoretical principle was that of the fundamental bass, a note from which a chord is generated whether the note is physically included in the chord when it is played or not included at all. 24 This theory “reduces all harmonies to but two basic building blocks: the consonant triad and the dissonant seventh.” 25 It gave musicians a radical new perspective on harmony in the eighteenth century and influenced thoroughbass pedagogy, which had previously relied on chordal rules such as the règle de l’octave . As mentioned before, the règle de l’octave posited a pattern of chords connected with the degrees of the scale. When memorized and applied to thoroughbass or partimento, it acted as a convenient heuristic for adding chords, in which sonority and function were appropriate to the given bass line. However, to gain useful knowledge of the règle de l’octave applied to thoroughbass practice, one must memorize a vast number of chords in different keys and hand positions, not to mention all the exceptions to the rule. 26 Initially, Rameau’s theory of the fundamental bass sought to simplify thoroughbass pedagogy by explicating the theoretical concepts behind harmonic motion in the règle de l’octave. Example 3 shows Rameau’s explanation of the règle de l’octave through the motion of the fundamental bass with its characteristic leaps from the fifth degree of the scale to the first degree of the scale. However, as Rameau’s fundamental bass grew in importance in his theory, the theory separated itself from the règle de l’octave , turning toward the “abstract and formalistic.” 27 24. Ibid., 5. 25. Ibid., 57. 26. Ibid., 57. 27. Holtmeier, “Heinichen, Rameau, and the Italian Thoroughbass Tradition,” 12.